Get ready. Senate Republicans plan to attack S1, the voting rights package, from all directions: it’s partisan, it’s pointless, it makes committing voting fraud easier.
Their list of talking points prepared ahead of Tuesday’s bill markup hearing also warns their Democratic counterparts not to “permanently change the nature of the Senate” — aka blow up the legislative filibuster — “to ram it through.” Politico first obtained the document.
The hearing is high profile enough that both Senate Leaders Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and Mitch McConnell (R-KY) are slated to make appearances.
While the messaging document frames S1 as a wholly unnecessary, partisan piece of legislation to keep Democrats in power, advocates of the bill point out that it’s a critical safety net amid the nationwide push of restrictive voting bills from GOP legislatures.
There’s still some intra-Democratic debate over the proposal though, with members like Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV) preferring a more targeted and narrow voting rights bill named for the late Rep. John Lewis (D-GA). Committee chair Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) intends to introduce an amendment to tweak the legislation and address some concerns from election administrators.
Read the GOP talking points here:
